Baffle

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baffle \Baf"fle\, v. i.
     1. To practice deceit. [Obs.] --Barrow.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. To struggle against in vain; as, a ship baffles with the
        winds. [R.]


        [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baffle \Baf"fle\, n.
     1. A defeat by artifice, shifts, and turns; discomfiture.
        [R.] "A baffle to philosophy." --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Engin.)
        (a) A deflector, as a plate or wall, so arranged across a
            furnace or boiler flue as to mingle the hot gases and
            deflect them against the substance to be heated.
        (b) A grating or plate across a channel or pipe conveying
            water, gas, or the like, by which the flow is rendered
            more uniform in different parts of the cross section
            of the stream; -- used in measuring the rate of flow,
            as by means of a weir.
            [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     2. (Coal Mining) A lever for operating the throttle valve of
        a winding engine. [Local, U. S.]
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Baffle \Baf"fle\ (b[a^]f"f'l), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Baffled}
     (-f'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Baffling} (-fl[i^]ng).] [Cf.
     Lowland Scotch bauchle to treat contemptuously, bauch
     tasteless, abashed, jaded, Icel. b[=a]gr uneasy, poor, or
     b[=a]gr, n., struggle, b[ae]gja to push, treat harshly, OF.
     beffler, beffer, to mock, deceive, dial. G. b[aum]ppe mouth,
     beffen to bark, chide.]
     [1913 Webster]
     1. To cause to undergo a disgraceful punishment, as a
        recreant knight. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He by the heels him hung upon a tree,
              And baffled so, that all which passed by
              The picture of his punishment might see. --Spenser.
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     2. To check by shifts and turns; to elude; to foil.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The art that baffles time's tyrannic claim.
                                                    --Cowper.
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     3. To check by perplexing; to disconcert, frustrate, or
        defeat; to thwart. "A baffled purpose." --De Quincey.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A suitable scripture ready to repel and baffle them
              all.                                  --South.
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              Calculations so difficult as to have baffled, until
              within a . . . recent period, the most enlightened
              nations.                              --Prescott.
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              The mere intricacy of a question should not baffle
              us.                                   --Locke.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Baffling wind} (Naut.), one that frequently shifts from one
        point to another.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: To balk; thwart; foil; frustrate; defeat.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  baffle
       n : a flat plate that controls or directs the flow of fluid or
           energy [syn: {baffle board}]
       v 1: be a mystery or bewildering to; "This beats me!"; "Got me--I
            don't know the answer!"; "a vexing problem"; "This
            question really stuck me" [syn: {perplex}, {vex}, {stick},
             {get}, {puzzle}, {mystify}, {beat}, {pose}, {bewilder},
             {flummox}, {stupefy}, {nonplus}, {gravel}, {amaze}, {dumbfound}]
       2: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of; "What
          ultimately frustrated every challenger was Ruth's amazing
          September surge"; "foil your opponent" [syn: {thwart}, {queer},
           {spoil}, {scotch}, {foil}, {cross}, {frustrate}, {bilk}]
       3: check the emission of (sound) [syn: {regulate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  131 Moby Thesaurus words for "baffle":
     addle, amaze, babble, bafflement, balk, ball up, bamboozle,
     be Greek to, be beyond one, be too deep, beat, beat one, befuddle,
     bewilderment, bilk, blast, boggle, bother, brave, buffalo,
     cast down, challenge, checkmate, circumvent, confound,
     confoundment, confront, confuse, confusion, contravene, counter,
     counteract, countermand, counterwork, cross, cushion, damp, dampen,
     dash, daze, deaden, deafen, defeat, defeat expectation, defy,
     destroy, dilemma, disappoint, discomfit, discomposure, disconcert,
     disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment, discountenance,
     dish, disillusion, disrupt, dissatisfy, disturbance, dull,
     dumbfound, elude, embarrass, embarrassment, enigma, escape one,
     faze, fix, floor, flummox, fog, foil, frustrate, fuddle, get,
     gibber, jam, keep in suspense, knock the chocks, let down, lick,
     lose one, maze, mix up, muddle, muffle, mute, mystery, mystify,
     need explanation, nonplus, not make sense, not penetrate,
     pass comprehension, perplex, perplexity, perturbation, pickle,
     plight, pother, predicament, problem, puzzle, puzzlement, quandary,
     rattle, riddle, ruin, sabotage, scotch, scrape, soft-pedal, soften,
     speak in tongues, spike, spoil, stew, stick, stonewall, stop,
     stump, subdue, talk double Dutch, tantalize, tease, throw, thwart,
     tone down, unassuredness, upset